Pak ignored US warnings on unilateral action on Osama: Report

Pakistani authorities ignored several warnings from the US over the past three years that it would take unilateral action if it gathered intelligence on Osama bin Laden's presence in the country, according to a media report on Monday.

The Americans had warned Pakistan "time and again" that if the US had intelligence concerning bin Laden, "they would act on it with or without Pakistani cooperation", The News daily quoted informed sources as saying.

An unnamed top-ranking US official said: "Time and again we have warned Pakistan but it seems like your officials live in a dreamland and believe that we need you so much that we will close our eyes and ears to all you do."

This official angrily asserted that US had warned Pakistan time and again that it would undertake unilateral action against bin Laden if the US thought Pakistan would not act on its own.

One warning came almost three years ago in June 2008, when a high-level US delegation comprising Steve Hadley, National Security Adviser in the Bush administration, and CIA deputy director Stephen Kappes were sent to Islamabad with a message to then president Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani - the US strongly believed that some militant groups in Pakistan were harbouring bin Laden, the report said.

The Pakistani leaders asked for "actionable intelligence".

When questioned by civilian leaders, Pakistani intelligence officials immediately denied any knowledge about bin Laden and any other groups or individuals mentioned by the CIA, the report added.

A few months later, similar demands, including the threat of unilateral action, were made to National Security Adviser Maj Gen (retired) Mahmood Durrani when he visited Washington.

On returning to Pakistan, Durrani communicated his fears about potential US actions.

"Unfortunately, these were interpreted in a way to make him seem like an 'American agent' and the substance of his views was ignored," the report said.

Durrani was later sacked by Gilani without the prior knowledge of President Asif Ali Zardari after he told the media that Mumbai attacker was a Pakistani national.

In July 2008, then CIA director Michael Hayden communicated to Gilani during a meeting in Washington that certain Pakistani militant groups had deep ties with al-Qaida.

Soon after the Mumbai terror attacks in November 2008, the CIA again reiterated this fear. However, Pakistan's reaction was simply that it needed concrete proof, the report said.

"While willing to avoid placing excessive open pressure on a weak civilian government and often issuing statements that reassured Pakistan, Americans repeatedly said they felt betrayed," the report said.